Fryz podstropowy ukryty pomiędzy sufitem pomieszczenia na pierwszym piętrze a podłogą pomieszczenia drugiego piętra w skrzydle zachodnim pałacu Pod Krzysztofory

Abstrakt

THE CEILING FRIEZE CONCEALED BETWEEN THE CEILING OF A ROOM ON THE FIRST FLOOR AND THE FLOOR OF A ROOM ON THE SECOND FLOOR IN THE WEST WING OF KRZYSZTOFORY PALACE IN KRAKÓW

The paper describes the discovery, and then the conservation  of the ceiling frieze concealed under the floor of  a room on the second floor in the west wing of Krzysztofory  Palace in Kraków. The surviving fragments of the frieze  seemed to be parts of an unfinished painted composition  that decorated the room on the first floor which was originally  topped with a wooden beam ceiling (only four of  the original beams survive and they are dated to the 18th  century). The unfinished frieze was damaged during the  installation of wooden load-bearing beams supporting the  structure of the second floor, and the bottom part of the  frieze was covered with the planks of the false dropped ceiling  with coving that topped the room on the first floor. The  composition of the painted frieze comprises a garland made  of a bunch of green leaves and attached to the ceiling beams  painted in the chiaroscuro technique with the use of light,  delicate brushstrokes.  The range of colours is limited to the grey-blue background,  the dark green leaves, and the pale pink outline of  the frieze. Since the discovered feature was not to be displayed,  conservation works were limited to the removal of  dust and dirt from the surface of the painting, application  of paint fixative, attachment of the loose parts to the wall,  and protection of the surface against mechanical damage in  the course of further construction works in the building. All  of the stages of the conservation process were documented  by photographs.  The dating of the frieze proved to be the most difficult  task. The painting possessed certain features of the  baroque style, so researchers studied the history of the  building from the moment of its purchase by Bishop Kajetan  Ignacy Sołtyk in 1773 until 1843, i.e. the death of  Jacek Kluszewski who owned the mansion from 1790 and  transformed it into a tenement house. It was assumed that  the painting of the frieze must have been commissioned  by Kluszewski, because, unlike his predecessors, he carried  out many renovation works and introduced a number of  alterations in the property. His interest in the arts, connections  with art circles, and his substantial fortune certainly  rendered him well equipped for that task.